History Main / ReptilesAreAbhorrent

** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' introduces the Xindi, a set of related (somehow) species who each have evolved from a different species and yet are all at least vaguely humanoid. There's the ([[SapientCetaceans dolphin-like]]) Aquatics, [[HumanAliens human-like]] Primates, human-like (if hairier) Arborials, ant-like and scary-looking Insectoids, lizard-like and ''also'' scary-looking Reptilians, and the extinct and presumably birdlike Avians. You win no prizes for guessing which two species remained villains.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' has a stage named "[[MeaningfulName Reptilia]]". A ShiftingSandLand filled with snakes (which were cannon fodder) and horned lizards (which were [[InvincibleMinorMinion completely damn invincible]]). The boss: a giant horned lizard that would try to club Bug with its EpicFlail of a tongue. Thankfully, it was [[TacticalSuicideBoss stupid enough]] to cause boulders to roll into two [[BossArenaIdiocy conveniently-placed catapults]] on its arena.

* Franchise/TheDCU and Franchise/{{DCA|nimatedUniverse}}U:

* In ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'', the good guys are all mammalian (lions and dogs) while the only lizardmen units are [[BladeOnAStick lancers]] for the villains.

* In ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian'', the primary antagonist Thulsa Doom is the leader of a snake cult. He can [[ScaledUp turn into a giant snake]] and uses one as an arrow.

* ''Rattlers''. You never can have too much snake B movies. And [[http://www.imdb.com/media/rm68721664/tt0073609?ref_=tt_ov_i the film poster]] on IMDB is, [[BuffySpeak like, radically Freudian…]]

Despite the trope's name, it also applies to amphibians. Toads, in particular, have become heavily correlated with evil and unpleasantness due to their poisonous secretions, association with witches, and the myth that touching one will give you warts. Salamanders are also often depicted negatively. However, there are many favorable depictions of frogs in fiction.

* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfTheTigerProwess'', Counselor the gecko is one of the villains of the film alongside Lord Japper the tiger and Leopold the leopard, and is the only reptile of the trio while the other two are cats. [[spoiler:This goes even further when it's revealed near the end of the film that he's the one masterminding Lord Japper and his amusement park, on top of him convincing Lord Japper and Leopold that they're a tiger and a leopard when they're actually just normal house cats]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'' has the PunchClockVillain Sir Hiss. Oddly enough, he's a goofy IneffectualSympatheticVillain. Another villain is an axe wielding crocodile {{Elite Mook|s}}. Two others are reptiles [[PunchClockVillain under the service]] of the Mammalian Prince John. The movie does feature a more sympathetic turtle: Toby, nerdy friend of [[CheerfulChild Skippy Rabbit]].

* In the second ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' film, Counsoler the gecko is one of the villains of the film alongside Lord Japper the tiger and Leopold the leopard, and is the only reptile of the trio while the other two are cats. [[spoiler:This goes even further when it's revealed near the end of the film that he's the one masterminding Lord Japper and his amusement park, on top of him convincing Lord Japper and Leopold that they're a tiger and a leopard when they're actually just normal house cats]].

** Vaermina, the Daedric Prince of [[YourWorstNightmare Nightmares]], may be second only to Molag Bal in terms of her malevolence toward mortals. Statues of her often depict her with a snake draped across her shoulders. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline Online]]'', her emblem consists of her CoolMask with a snake wrapped around it.

** This trope is subtle but there in the ''TNG'' episode "Lonely Among Us." The ''Enterprise'' plays host to delegations from two sentient bipedal species: Antican and Selay. The two delegations are at each others' throats from the beginning, and at the end of the episode we learn the Antican delegation has killed a member of the Selayan delegation and wants the ''Enterprise'''s chef to help them prepare their victim for a meal. It's all okay, though, because the Anticans are a mammalian species with doglike heads and the Selay are a reptilian species with the heads of cobras. Thus, what might ordinarily strike the audience as a horrifying act of murder and cannibalism is almost played as an Main/EverybodyLaughsEnding.

See also WhatMeasureIsANonCute, ScaledUp, EmotionlessReptile, FangsAreEvil, PrimateVersusReptile, and DragonsAreDemonic. Compare AmphibianAssault, BearsAreBadNews, CatsAreMean, CruelElephant, FeatheredFiend, MisterMuffykins, SavageWolves, ThreateningShark and YouDirtyRat. Contrast with LovableLizard. This is also closely related to GoodAnimalsEvilAnimals.

* The Soft Boys' "He's A Reptile," which uses the metaphore to describe smooth-talking, sharp-dressing, woman-stealing sleazeball.

* The ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' trilogy, despite having reptilian dragons as the main hero and good guys, has some notable examples:

*** Clannfear possess animalistic intelligence and the general appearance of [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs raptors]] with frills and beaks. Not unlike the popular perception of raptor-like dinosaurs, they possess agile movements similar to birds and hunt in packs to take down larger prey. They typically stand shorter than the average citizen of Tamriel, though larger varieties have been known to exist.

* ''Literature/{{Dreamsnake}}'': Subverted, invoked, ''and'' reconstructed. Someone's violent phobia of snakes gets the titular creature—a tiny, cute, docile alien viper whose venom is a sedative and mild hallucinogen but not lethal—killed and kicks off the FrontierDoctor heroine's troubles. And while she views her cobra and rattlesnake (which serve as her medical kit) as both [[CoolPet pets]] and essential tools, not even ''she'' can find anything likable about the dangerous, ill-tempered, and downright ugly sand vipers.

* In ''Film/ConanTheBarbaria1982'', the primary antagonist Thulsa Doom is the leader of a snake cult. He can [[ScaledUp turn into a giant snake]] and uses one as an arrow.

* ''Franchise/KagerouProject'' plays with this one, as Azami and her descendants - all gorgon women - are treated like monsters ''because'' of this trope ([[spoiler:[[ThenLetMeBeEvil in fact, the only instances of any of them using their magic to harm]] [[HumansAreBastards was in self-defence against human instigators]]]]), but they are all very nice people. On the flip-side, the series' BigBad plays it straight, [[spoiler:as he is the single one of Azami's snakes with sentience, and has [[KillEmAll successfully killed off the whole cast]] [[GroundhogDayLoop multiple times]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'' has the PunchClockVillain Sir Hiss. Oddly enough, he's a goofy IneffectualSympatheticVillain. Another villain is an axe wielding crocodile {{Elite Mook|s}}. Two others are reptiles [[PunchClockVillain under the service]] of the Mammalian Prince John. The movie does feature a more sympathetic turtle: Toby, {{nerd}}y friend of [[CheerfulChild Skippy Rabbit]].

*** Quadav are {{turtle|Power}} beastmen who actually had a nice life and weren't very nasty. This all went to hell when Bastok started taking and destroying the Quadav's homes so that the Republic could get more resources. Now the Quadav attack anyone they see, defending their homes with extreme prejudice.

This trope is not applied with equal frequency and intensity to all reptiles. {{Snakes|AreSinister}} (especially venomous ones) and [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile crocodilians]] tend to be the reptiles most associated with villains. Meanwhile, {{turtle|Power}}s and [[LovableLizard certain small, cute lizards]] like geckos, chameleons, frilled lizards and the like are seen as cute and harmless, and are less likely to be considered evil, while [[MaliciousMonitorLizard large lizards like monitors]] and gila monsters are basically snakes with legs. Stereotypically reptilian features such as {{fangs|AreEvil}}, claws, tails, visible scales, and slit pupils may distinguish villainous reptiles from friendly ones, as does the use of [[PoisonIsEvil venom]]. Also, while this trope primarily applies to real-life reptiles or characters based on them, it can also factor into how [[OurDragonsAreDifferent your dragons are different]]. Indeed, the grotesque, poisonous, [[BreathWeapon fire-spewing]], [[MonsterMisogyny maiden-abducting beast]] of Medieval lore might well be the ''ultimate'' incarnation of this trope.

See also WhatMeasureIsANonCute, ScaledUp, EmotionlessReptile, FangsAreEvil, PrimateVersusReptile, and DragonsAreDemonic. Compare AmphibianAssault, BearsAreBadNews, CatsAreMean, CruelElephant, FeatheredFiend, MisterMuffykins, SavageWolves, ThreateningShark and YouDirtyRat. Contrast with TurtlePower and LovableLizard. This is also closely related to GoodAnimalsEvilAnimals.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': The Zyglak. There are also the Skakdi -- a group of them (the Piraka) were collectively the BigBad of the 2006 StoryArc, and one of their leaders (Nektann) briefly became TheDragon to overall series BigBad Teridax during the 2010 arc. It is not uncommon for villains to get [[BalefulPolymorph turned into snakes]].

* Wiki/TVTropes refers to a certain type of villain as a SmugSnake. Not even this very wiki is immune to this trope!

* [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP-682]], the "Hard-to-Destroy Reptile." It's a giant [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] lizard-monster that finds all life on Earth [[HumansThroughAlienEyes utterly repellant and horrifying]] and responds by [[OmnicidalManiac trying to make it]] ''[[OmnicidalManiac stop]]''

See also WhatMeasureIsANonCute, ScaledUp, FangsAreEvil, PrimateVersusReptile, and DragonsAreDemonic. Compare AmphibianAssault, BearsAreBadNews, CatsAreMean, CruelElephant, FeatheredFiend, MisterMuffykins, SavageWolves, ThreateningShark and YouDirtyRat. Contrast with TurtlePower and LovableLizard. This is also closely related to GoodAnimalsEvilAnimals.

** The [[SnakePeople yuan-ti]] range from mostly-human people with a few snake features to mostly-snake people with a few human features, as well as several other heavily-mutated varieties. They're emotionless sociopaths to the last, seek to conquer and dominate all other species, and their patron deity is Merrshaulk, a ChaoticEvil giant snake-monster that spends most of its time slumbering in its realm in the Abyss.